Six Years Later (Part III): Innovative Approaches to Combating Terrorists

On February 14, 2008, the Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs held the third in a series of hearings into long-term U.S. national security strategy entitled, “Six Years Later (Part III): Innovative Approaches to Combating Terrorists.”

The hearing was NOT webcast.

Our intelligence community recently reported an alarming resurgence of Al Qaeda. This hearing explored what we’ve learned over the past six years about the best way to defeat Al Qaeda and other terrorists, including by analysis of recently declassified Al Qaeda documents captured on the battlefield. The Subcommittee explored emerging and creative thinking on exploiting vulnerabilities in Al Qaeda’s organizational culture and structure, eradicating safe havens, and prevailing in the battle for public sentiment in the Muslim world.

Witness List:

Col. Michael J. Meese, Ph.D, Professor and Head of the Social Sciences Department at the United States Military Academy, West Point, as well as co-author of Harmony & Disharmony: Exploiting Al Qa’ida’s Organizational Vulnerabilities,

Angel Rabasa, Ph.D., Senior Policy Analyst at the RAND Corporation and co-author of Ungoverned Territories: Understanding and Reducing Terrorism Risks;

Amitai Etzioni, Ph.D., University Professor at George Washington University and author, most recently, of Security First: For a Muscular, Moral Foreign Policy; and

Daniel L. Byman, Ph.D., Director, Center for Peace and Security Studies, Georgetown University, former staff member on the 9/11 Commission, and author of the recently published book, The Five Front War: The Better Way to Fight Global Jihad.